


crave a different kind of buzz

by defcontwo



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Catlad, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 10:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1004375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defcontwo/pseuds/defcontwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I will not be beaten by an incompetent harlot in skin-tight clothing and <i>cat ears</i>." Stray versus the Batfamily, an adventure in several acts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	crave a different kind of buzz

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stitchingatthecircuitboard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stitchingatthecircuitboard/gifts).



05\. 

"Here, kitty, kitty...come on, you're too cute to be left alone out here, kitty." 

Tim stifles a laugh, slipping the USB drive with stolen info into his utility belt, before turning the corner to face Robin. "You know what they say about flattery, Robin." 

Robin grins, wide and bright, the red of her lipstick standing out against the red, green, and yellow of her costume, and oh, how he has always loved that costume. Robin, the bright spot in the darkness, Robin the mouthy girl with a great right hook. He's kissed her once, twice, several times, ran all the way home and found her red lipstick stains all over him, and laughed about it, never wanting to wipe it off. 

He feels bad, a little, about getting one over on her but she'll arrest him if she has to, and he's not in the mood for a prison breakout tonight. 

"That it gets me everywhere?" 

"But _sometimes_ it gets you nowhere." 

Robin affects a pout but he's not fooled, he sees the way she's casing the rooftop, the way she's thinking of reaching for a batarang. "What, you mad because I went and started dating Batgirl?"

Tim shifts, a little, relaxes into a moment of honesty because the truth is, he loves this girl, loves Batgirl too, and well -- Robin and Batgirl, who is he to stand in the way of an inevitability like that? "No, not even a little bit, Robin."

"Good. You should know that I have a date tonight that I'd like to get to, so do me a solid, pretty kitty, and fork over the USB." 

Tim arches an eyebrow, for all that Steph can't see it under his goggles. "Did you really think that was going to work, Robin?"

She lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug. "Worth a shot, right?" 

She's already sweeping his feet out from under him and he doesn't have a chance in hell at beating her hand-to-hand, she's got better training, the Lady Shiva and Black Canary and fuck knows who else besides that, so the best thing to do is to let her pin him to the rooftop and wait. 

"Robin, report." Batman's voice booms out from the comm-link in Robin's ear and Tim scowls reflexively. 

"Got a cat on a line, B-Man, what's up with you?" 

"Leave Stray alone, Robin. O reports there's been a break-in at Gotham National Bank, I need you here." 

Robin lets up, hopping to her feet quickly, and leaping to the edge of the building, a line drawn as she looks for the best place to jump to. 

"Catch ya later, pretty kitty," Robin calls out and then she's gone. 

They'll realize in about twenty minutes that the bank alarm was tripped remotely and in a couple of hours, they'll track it back to him, but it'll be too late to do anything about it.

Tim gets up from the rooftop, taking the time to stretch his arms and crack his back, and he'll have bruises there tomorrow from the way he hit the hard cement, but it's not like it'll be the first time. 

"What do you say, Timothy," he says to himself. "How about some chow mein after a long night's work?" 

He takes off for Chinatown, in the opposite direction of the Bats, the USB drive safely tucked away. 

04\. 

"So, what's going on between you and Robin, huh?"

Stray looks up from where has has a gauntlet-covered hand hovering over his rook, mouth twisting in annoyance at the man across from him. "Rooftop chess dates can get canceled, Nightwing, you know that." 

Dick cheerfully shoves half a slice of pizza into his mouth, grinning at Tim through it. "Hey, it's my right as the older, responsible one. I gotta make sure everyone's using condoms as needed."

Tim snorts. "That's not necessary. At least not for Robin and me. She's moved onto greener pastures and I'm attempting to, what's the phrase, put the moves on an older guy. He's pretty hot even though he sucks at chess." 

Dick gapes at him, another slice of pizza halfway to his mouth. "You're kidding."

Tim affects one of Selina's trademark flirtatious smiles, rolling his shoulders a little and shifting away from Tim and back into Stray, even as he moves his rook into position, and ends the game. " _Am I?_ Checkmate, N." 

"I know you're kidding," Dick says, gesturing with a slice of pizza, "because you're way too grumpy and weird about it when you actually do like someone." 

"I thought I was grumpy and weird all of the time, N." 

"You are. Especially around Batman, what's up with that? Oh, is he your mystery crush? Do you want to mack on the big Bad Bat? I'm not condoning it, I'm just saying, I'm a shoulder to lean on if you need it." 

Tim scrunches up his nose, grimacing. "Thanks, this evening's over, I think I'm going to be sick now." 

"Seriously, Stray," Dick says, gaze pinning Tim to the spot. "What is it with you and Batman?" 

Tim shrugs, uncurling himself from the squat he was sitting in, and pulling out his whip. His skin, his costume, his everything all of a sudden feels too tight, like he can't breathe, and he has to claw back the words that are fighting to escape him. There's part of him, the part of him that hugged Dick Grayson at a circus another lifetime ago, the part of him that chased Jason Todd across rooftops, who will always look at Dick and associate him with warmth, with trust. It's not the first time that Tim's wanted to spill his guts to Dick and it won't be the last. 

But not tonight. 

Stray takes off without another word, leaving Nightwing alone, surrounded by empty pizza boxes and a portable chess set. 

03\. 

"I will not be beaten by an incompetent harlot in skin-tight clothing and _cat ears_."

Tim flicks his whip idly in the direction of Robin, the new one, the tiny pain in the ass Robin, pocketing the computer chip that he came here to steal. "Spoiler was right, kid, you really do need to grow a sense of humor." 

"Spoiler," the kid spits out. "Spoiler is even more of a bumbling, incompetent buffoon than you are. No wonder you're friends." 

"At least we have friends," Tim mutters to himself, picking up the phone. They're in the mayor's office -- Tim's long suspected him of corruption and now he's got the info to prove it. It's not his usual fare, not exactly strategically beneficial corporate espionage, but sometimes you have to learn to roll with the punches. Assholes like the mayor are what ruin this town and if Tim's going to live in it, he's going to do something about it. 

"Hello, 911? I'm in the mayor's office. Yes, downtown. There's an annoying, chirping little bird tied up here, you might want to call his father to come retrieve him. Toodles." 

Tim hangs up before lifting himself back up into the space above the ceiling. He waits right until he's almost got the ceiling tile back in place before waving cheerfully at Robin and snapping a picture with his phone, the kid's scowling face immortalized forever. 

It'll make Spoiler's night. 

02\. 

"You've got to stop doing this." Even if Tim didn't know that voice, there's a weight to a room when Batman's in it that can't be mistaken. He swears softly to himself. This is the last thing he's in the mood for right now. 

Stray's back stiffens, one hand on the door to the exit, the other firmly wrapped around the bag that contains tonight's spoils. "Do I?"

"What's in the bag?"

"Incan relics. They belong back where they came from or in a museum, not in the private home of a corrupt politician."

"Oh, so you're a modern day Robin Hood."

"Nope," Tim quips out. "Pretty sure the Robin mantle's already taken." 

"You can't beat me. I know you know that. I can arrest you right now. Take you downtown, they'll unmask you, and maybe you can start a new life. One that doesn't involve stealing for a living."

Tim spins around, careful to set the bag down lightly on the floor before he strides across the room towards Batman, poking a finger into the man's chest. "No. You won't. Because you know exactly who I am underneath these goggles." 

"Tim Drake," Batman says. "So what?"

Tim lifts his chin, getting as much into Batman's face as he can, for all that the other man is a foot taller than him. Dimly, he thinks that he should feel intimidated but he's too pissed off to feel anything but the white hot rage running through him, the desire to poke and prod until Batman realizes just exactly who he's dealing with. "You feel guilty. Because you couldn't save them." 

"I don't. I couldn't get there in time to save your parents -- it's a tragedy, yes, but it happens. If I felt guilty for every person I couldn't save, I'd never get out of bed."

Tim snorts. "You're full of shit, Bats. Poor little rich boy gets orphaned at a young age, you're telling me that doesn't just tug at _your_ heartstrings?" 

If Tim wasn't standing so close, he never would have heard the way Batman's breath catches almost imperceptibly, never would have seen the way he stepped back the slightest of distances -- the closest the big bad Bat will ever get to revealing his reaction. "Catwoman told you."

Tim steps back, shaking his head. "She didn't have to. I figured it out long before she ever got to me. So ask yourself this the next time you decide to give me another one of these heart-to-hearts, Batman. Just how _many_ of your secrets do I know?" 

Tim picks up the bag and walks out the door without another word. 

01\. 

An USB stick full of secrets incriminating enough to dismantle half of Gotham's worst organized crime and off it went, out of Tim's sight and straight into the Red Hood's jacket pocket. 

"Shit," Tim says, putting his binoculars away and pulling down his goggles. Plan B. He flips down from his vantage point and makes for a rooftop that he knows is in the Red Hood's path home and waits. 

He doesn't have to wait long. 

"Hey, kitten, fancy seein' you out here," Jason says, falling to the rooftop in a neat roll and coming to his feet with a grace that only a former Robin could manage. 

"What happened to the red plastic mask?" Tim calls out. "I liked it, it was retro." 

Jason shrugs. "It was more of a pain in the ass than I realized. Besides, why hide my chiseled good looks?" 

Why indeed, a very traitorous part of Tim pipes up. He stomps on it firmly. "What chiseled good looks?"

Jason puts a hand over his heart. "Aw, kitten, you wound me. And here I thought you had the hots for little old me." 

"Yeah, you know, I can't say that potentially psychotic is really my type in guys," Tim snaps out. Maybe Dick _is_ right, he does get grumpy and weird about people he likes. 

He's hating his hood a little right now as he clenches and unclenches his hands, wanting to tug his fingers through his hair in annoyance because he doesn't have a plan here, and all he's doing is wasting time. 

_What would Selina do_. Well. He knows what Selina would do but he is absolutely, 100% not going to do what Selina would do. 

"Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat -- I do so love these moments we have together, you sniping at me, me chiming in with some good-hearted, witty banter, but places to be, people to see, you know how it is..." Jason makes for the edge of the rooftop to move on. 

Option A: Let the USB stick with all that beautiful information to be made use of go. Option B: Get to do something that he's been thinking about doing since he was twelve years old. 

Well. Viva la Selina. 

"Wait," Tim calls out, reaching out and clutching hold of Jason's arm, reeling him in and he has about half a second to appreciate how surprised Jason looks and then they're kissing. Jason is -- uncertain and Tim didn't expect that, not exactly, but he likes it, likes that he gets to take the lead here, leaning up on his tip-toes and bringing them in closer, deepening the kiss. Tim pulls away to nip at Jason's lip before diving back in, even as one slim hand slips inside Jason's jacket pocket, fingers closing in on the USB stick. Jason groans, something strangled and desperate that goes straight to Tim's dick, and this is really something that they're going to have to revisit some time under more favorable circumstances. 

"What the hell was that?" Jason says, low and rough, as Tim pulls away. 

"Just something to think about, Hood," Tim says, before pulling out his whip and jumping off the roof. 

He doesn't turn back to see if Jason watches him go but still, it's like he feels the weight of Jason's gaze the entire way home. 

(+1) 

Stray is sprinting across Gotham's skyline, Batman in hot pursuit, and it's very possible that this is the end of the line for him right here, but then again, this is hardly the first time he's thought that. 

You'd think Batman had something better to do than chase after a teenager with a diamond necklace stuffed inside his utility belt but the thundering footsteps steadily gaining on him say otherwise. 

Stray's one saving grace is that Batman may be Batman, but he didn't spend his childhood running all along these rooftops and clambering down fire escapes, and there are corners of Gotham that Tim Drake knows in ways that Bruce Wayne never will. 

Tim vaults down the side of a building, extending his whip out, and breathing a sigh of relief as it catches on the fire escape of the building opposite. He swings across and then climbs down, only to come face to face with Catwoman. 

"Hey, C. How's it shaking?" 

Selina shakes her head, reaching out a hand to tweak his nose. "Getting yourself into trouble, kiddo?"

Tim grins. "Hey, I learned from the best, remember?" 

"You're not going to be able to shake his tail alone, you know."

"I know. What's with him, is there no major crime out there tonight?" 

Selina looks up to where Batman is glaring down at them, a sly smile that Tim doesn't like at all stealing across her face. "Don't worry about him, kiddo, I'll take care of it." 

Tim wrinkles his nose. "Ugh, gross. Use a condom, C. I don't want you getting Bat STDs." 

Selina laughs -- a light, warm sound that reminds him of home, of a penthouse apartment and half a dozen cats and tea in front of the fire, and Tim eases off a little. He guesses Selina can't help it that she has terrible taste in men. It's not like he can talk. He leans over, kissing her on the cheek. "Have a good night, C."

"You too, kiddo," Selina says, taking a second to wrap him in a quick hug. She steps up to the first rung of the fire escape before turning back to him. "By the by, young man, that better be my birthday present you have there." 

"Only the best for you, Catwoman."

"Atta boy." 

He watches her go before shaking his head and turning away. Selina's got the right idea of it -- it's a quiet night and it's about time Stray paid the Red Hood a visit. 

The diamond necklace, burning a hole in his pocket, can wait a few hours.


End file.
